Semiconductor integrated circuit process technology scaling has involved the reduction of interconnect and transistor dimensions without reducing the supply voltage in proportion. Hence, wearout of transistor devices and interconnects is occurring more quickly than with previous technology generations. At the same time, there is a desire to use commercial electronics in applications that require reliability over a longer lifetime or under unique stress conditions (e.g. aerospace, automotive, military, etc.). In these applications, it is desirable to use commercial electronic components while still meeting reliability requirements of the application. Safety critical applications (e.g. aviation, automobiles, and healthcare) require that electronic components be monitored periodically so that components that are likely to fail in the near future are replaced to avoid catastrophic failures in the field. One way to ensure safe operations is to estimate the remaining life of critical electronic components, including integrated circuits such as a system on a chip (SoC), microprocessor, microcontroller, etc.
In the related art, attempts to dynamically estimate the remaining lifetime of an integrated circuit have focused on operating parameters, such as temperature, voltage, and operating frequency. In the related art, the operating parameters are monitored using embedded sensors, such as temperature sensors, current sensors, voltage sensors, and delay sensors. These embedded sensors require additional components and circuitry; meaning additional physical space and electrical power is required to implement these solutions. These sensors do not have the capability to diagnose failure mechanisms within the integrated circuit.
Because wearout of electronic circuits is occurring more quickly than with previous technology generations in addition to a continued desire to reduce power consumption, size, and cost of electronic circuits, there is a need for more effective technologies for detecting failures in electrical circuitry, diagnosing failures in electrical circuitry, and estimating future lifetimes of electronic circuitry.